Adopting a dog or puppy is a big decision, this guide is here to help you through the first few months! All of these things are what I did with my own corgi, Martha. (@martha_the_corgi_)

Must Know Tricks:

Sit: every time she sits down on her own, say “Sit! Good girl!” And give her a treat, then slowly start making her sit when she’s not!

Stay: wait until she knows sit, and then tell her stay while holding up your hand like this ✋🏻 and slowly walk away while holding a treat in the other hand. As soon as she starts walking towards you say “okay!” And give her the treat. Just do this over and over, increasing the distance you walk away each time, until she can do it without moving.

Leave it: Put a treat on the floor and cover it with your hand, tell her “Leave it!” While it’s covered. She’ll try to get it but don’t let her! Slowly lift up your hand, and tell her leave it while she can see the treat. Keep doing this until she stops trying to get it. Once she doesn’t try to go for it, take your hand away completely and say “okay!” Keep doing this over and over, and eventually she’ll stop trying to get it as soon as you say “Leave it!”

Kennel Up: Every time you put her in her kennel, say “Kennel up!” And give her a treat. Eventually, just saying “Kennel up!” will make her go in there without you having to force her.

Be Sweet: This is a way to stop her from being to wild if she gets out of control while playing. When your playing with her, get her kind of riled up until she gets to a point where you want her to stop. Then, pick her up and hold her like a baby on her back, while slowly petting her and saying “Be sweet,” in a slow calm voice. Do this every time you play with her and eventually she’ll realize that “Be sweet,” means she needs to slow down and not play anymore.

Go Potty: Whenever you take her outside, and she pees or poops, say “Go potty!” the whole time she’s going, then when she’s done say “Good girl!” And give her a treat. That way when you take her on a walk, you can just say “Go potty!” And she’ll go. (You can use a different phrase like “go to the bathroom” “go pee” etc. but “go potty” is what I use with Martha)

Potty Training 101:

Take her outside whenever you can, preferably at least once an hour. Anytime she goes potty, follow the steps to teach her the “go potty” trick.

Anytime she does pee or poop outside, give her a treat! This is especially important for the first few months.

If you catch her going inside, tell her “No!” And take her outside immediately. Even if she’s done going, taking her outside right away will reinforce the idea that that’s where she should go.

What Not To Feed Her:

When in doubt, just assume something is poisonous if you can’t google it for some reason! It’s always better to be safe than sorry. However here is a list of the most common foods that are poisonous for dogs. The ones with a skull next to it are especially bad.

If she eats any of the ones with a skull next to it, you need to IMMEDIATELY force feed her hydrogen peroxide until she throws up. It shouldn’t take too much to make her vomit, and it will keep anything bad from happening to her.

Obviously don’t let her eat any of these, but especially try to keep her away from the ones with skulls.

Rawhide bones and Dingo bones can be good for crate training, but ALWAYS make sure they’re made in the U.S.!! They will be the least processed and the safest.

Kong bones are good too, you can fill them with peanut butter instead of the stuff the sell for them. It’s cheaper, and better quality with less processed ingredients.

When buying treats, always look for ones with the least amount of ingredients. Always make sure the first ingredient is meat, not corn or wheat. Also don’t buy anything that has animal byproducts (that’s what they call stuff like the skin, bones, and other gross parts of the animal that they put into dog treats to lower costs), BHA, or BHT (both of those are chemicals that can cause cancer in dogs)

Discipline:

If she’s generally misbehaving, or not listening, force her to lay on her side/back while putting your hand on her throat. Obviously don’t squeeze too hard but make sure to apply some pressure so she knows you mean business. Position yourself so she’s completely underneath you and say “No,” in a deep serious voice. Hold her there for a bit, and then say “Okay,” and let her up.

If she barks a lot, or has generally undesirable behaviors, buy a squirt bottle and spritz her anytime she barks or does whatever you don’t want her to do. This will discourage the behavior and eventually she’ll stop.

While she’s a puppy, hold her like a baby as much as possible. This will teach her to respect you as her alpha/pack leader.

If she chews a lot, like on walls or things she shouldn’t, you can buy this spray called “bitter apple,” and put it on anything you don’t want her chewing. It’s really sour tasting so it will stop her from chewing on it. It’s also all natural so it’s okay if she licks some of it.